Reggs
Veteran XX
I'm trying to make the pinnacle of home made oven pizza. After much trial and error the ice cream I make is much better than most Id buy already made. It's given me the drive to achieve the same with pizza. Some of you may remember the baking stone craze of the late 90s. In those innocent times it was thought that the stone would retain heat and "throw" or transfer it into the pizza, much like the stone floor of a pizza oven.
The modern take on this is that those pizza ovens get hotter than home ovens can. So for a home oven that only runs at lower temps, steel is better than stone since it transfers the heat much more quickly. This gave rise to the baking steel surpassing the baking stone for home use. This it's your only hope to achieve the sought after "leoparding" on the underside of the pizza where dark spots form, a hallmark of stone oven pizza:
Another trick is to monkey around with your home oven's calibration to trick it into thinking it's colder than it is, thus boosting the temp to ~35F or ~50F higher than it's baseline upper limit. I've not tried this yet, but will as a last resort.
Baking steels are an overpriced scam. It's just cleaned and seasoned steel for tens of dollars more. I ordered 16"x16" plate of steel for much less money. It was filthy with grey dust. No visible rust. The edges are aggressive. It's A36 steel, which I understand to be heated then pressed, used in areas where corrosion is not an issue, and welders seem to buy it.
I found directions for removing the mill scale using vinegar:
Vinegar for Mill Scale Removal - The Home Machinist!
It's soaking in the vinegar bath right now and seems to be getting darker in color. Some rust seems to be forming in tiny spots and it's bubbling a lot. It doesn't show, but I filed all 4 corners and 2 edges so it wont cut into the hand as much. It's maybe ~15 pounds, 1/4 inch thick.
After the mill scale is removed it will be naked steel. I'll dry it with heat and oil it very quickly then start to season it. Thereafter I'm sure there will be trial and error with learning how my pizza dough reacts to it but I'm sure it will all pay off.
The modern take on this is that those pizza ovens get hotter than home ovens can. So for a home oven that only runs at lower temps, steel is better than stone since it transfers the heat much more quickly. This gave rise to the baking steel surpassing the baking stone for home use. This it's your only hope to achieve the sought after "leoparding" on the underside of the pizza where dark spots form, a hallmark of stone oven pizza:
Another trick is to monkey around with your home oven's calibration to trick it into thinking it's colder than it is, thus boosting the temp to ~35F or ~50F higher than it's baseline upper limit. I've not tried this yet, but will as a last resort.
Baking steels are an overpriced scam. It's just cleaned and seasoned steel for tens of dollars more. I ordered 16"x16" plate of steel for much less money. It was filthy with grey dust. No visible rust. The edges are aggressive. It's A36 steel, which I understand to be heated then pressed, used in areas where corrosion is not an issue, and welders seem to buy it.
I found directions for removing the mill scale using vinegar:
Vinegar for Mill Scale Removal - The Home Machinist!
It's soaking in the vinegar bath right now and seems to be getting darker in color. Some rust seems to be forming in tiny spots and it's bubbling a lot. It doesn't show, but I filed all 4 corners and 2 edges so it wont cut into the hand as much. It's maybe ~15 pounds, 1/4 inch thick.
After the mill scale is removed it will be naked steel. I'll dry it with heat and oil it very quickly then start to season it. Thereafter I'm sure there will be trial and error with learning how my pizza dough reacts to it but I'm sure it will all pay off.
